A strengthening Tropical Storm Arlene moved northward Friday through the Gulf of Mexico, and tropical storm warnings and a hurricane watch were issued from central Louisiana to Florida, where residents are still recovering from last year's hurricanes.

The National Hurricane Center predicted Arlene will be a 'major rainfall event.'

NOAA

Arlene is the first tropical storm to threaten Florida since four major hurricanes blasted the state in six weeks during August and September, causing 130 deaths and $22 billion in insured losses.

At 11 a.m. ET, Arlene's poorly defined center was about 440 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm was moving north at about 13 mph, picking up speed from its 10 mph pace earlier in the day, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. (Related: Current position, projected path of Arlene)

Forecasters said Arlene could become a weak hurricane before hitting the Deep South late Saturday, with the worst weather east of the storm's center.

Wind and rain extended 150 miles to the north and east from the storm's center. Arlene had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. Southern and central Florida could see tornadoes Friday and more than 7 inches of rain by midday Saturday. Beach erosion was also possible, with coastal storm surge flooding of 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels.

Arlene was then expected to travel north along the Mississippi-Alabama line, reaching Tennessee by Sunday evening.

"This is going to be a major rainfall event before and ahead of the storm," said Trisha Wallace, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The downpour that landed on Havana and the rest of western Cuba as Arlene passed the island's westernmost tip early Friday was welcome relief from the island's severe drought.

Still, Arlene's has come too early for many Floridians, many still recovering from last year's chaos.

"Nobody's looking forward to this," says Pensacola Mayor John Fogg, whose city was battered last year by Hurricane Ivan. "Everybody's out in the streets stocking up on food, buying every generator in sight, and gasoline."

The Atlantic hurricane season that began June 1 will produce up to 15 tropical storms, three to five of them major hurricanes, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted.

For thousands of Floridians, though, the 2004 hurricanes still linger. In Pensacola, so many homes were destroyed or damaged that Rebuild Northwest Florida, a non-profit public-private partnership helping those in need, is considering buying a home manufacturing plant. "We believe we will be in the recovery process for another four years," Fogg says.

Across the state, about 9,800 people are still living in temporary trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says spokeswoman Nicol Andrews.

In Punta Gorda, devastated by Hurricane Charley, city employees recently got stress management training to prepare for the new storm season, city manager Howard Kunik says. Neither of the town's two major hotels have reopened yet and children at three of the four schools are still attending classes in trailers. "There's a lot of rebuilding to be done," Kunik says.

That's also true in Lake Wales in part of central Florida struck by Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Insurance agent Joe Webb finally got his office up and running three weeks ago. At home, he got a new roof in January, but contractors just started doing interior work last week.